Now, it's not often in the field of electronic music that someone does something genuinely new with it, but here is a prime example - and it works!! Fireclan started out as a synths and drums duo, then Spirits Burning/Spaceship Eyes musician Don Falcone got involved and the result is a first album (eight tracks over 75 minutes) which revolves largely around synths, drums/percussion and electric bass. Now at this point, anyone from a seventies background is thinking "prog-rock" - well, no it isn't. If anything, it's "synth-prog", or maybe "synth-rock" or maybe some term that hasn't been coined yet - you see the dilemma? For the most part it's multi-layered synth soundscapes with lush backdrops, melodies, rhythms and full-sounding expansive textures, but with this amazing rhythmic propulsion from the bass and drums, all so accessible and atmospheric, melodic and solid at the same time, but it's like no-one else around, yet just fantastic music.
The melodies from the synths soar and dive, flying high as endless horizons of synths weave webs of sonic delight that will take your breath away, while the rhythm section provide this wondrous crisp, strong and chunky sea of drum rhythms and bass lines that throb and pound to perfection. A couple of tracks have extra textures added courtesy of the glissando guitar magic of Gong's guitarist, Daevid Allen, to give even more of a warm feel to the music than already exists elsewhere, and just a magical combination with the synths and rhythm section. The rhythm section tends to conform more to the rules of synth music than the rules of prog-rock, so you'll hear bass and drum tracks that fit with synth music more expertly than most synth musicians or groups have ever managed in the past, almost taking to task bands such as Ash Ra and the like, as the whole crystal clear yet solid as a rock and so atmospheric sea of sonic delights unfolds. Extra use of string synth and sequenced rhythms on occasion merely add to the already spellbinding effect, and every track is just fantastic as the combination flares into existence and burns very brightly throughout. It's one of those albums that is intriguing and fascinating on first hearing, then you really start to get into it on second play so that by the time the third play is almost demanded, you are just so into the heady magnificence and strong drive of this rich and uniquely arranged set of compositions, synth music sounding stronger than it's sounded in years, in fact more than mere "synth" - but then we're back to my opening statement, once more. By anyone's standards, this is one superb album, timeless, accessible, strong and confident, produced to perfection and simply amazing music - essential listening and then some.
QUIET CELEBRATION: S/T CD
Quartet formed by Spaceship Eyes synth man Don Falcone, revolving around a line-up of synths/udu, contrabass, woodwinds and bayan/tabla, all of which essentially reveals a really atmospheric mix of ambient and jazz, electronic and ethnic, electric and acoustic, all served up over ten tracks that are totally enticing and largely uptempo thanks to the percussives giving the rhythms a very Moroccan-sounding feel, although everything from the synths through the woodwinds to the percussion is all very ambient sounding, melodic and rhythmic for sure, as opposed to textural drifting, but with a feel, heart and soul that you just don't find in this sort of music that often. Overall, a superbly played, composed and produced album of exotic and accessible, timeless instrumental delights.
SPACESHIP EYES: Kamarupa CD
Primarily revolving around the keyboards, electronic percussion and sound manipulations of Don Falcone and the acoustic drums of Gary A Parra, this group have appeared previously on compilations such as 'Ambient Time Travellers', 'Sci-Fi Cafe', 'Ultimate Drum'n'Bass', 'Disco Trance Inferno' and Kraftwelt's 'Deranged In Space' project. So, is this a band playing '90's style trance/drum'n'bass? yes?? Well, no, actually. This is a wide-ranging seventy-one minutes of music that starts off as just under six minutes of melodic, multi-layered keyboards and synths backed by some very tasty drum work, but really not aligning itself with any individual style - If anything, it is more like melodic Ambient music. Track 2 begins with some great space synth passages, slowly undulating, echoed synth rhythms and a very atmospheric set of cosmic synth swoops and deep bass electronics, before, from the depths, emerges a mutli-rhythmic set of layers, slow at first, but increasing in intensity and adding drums in an almost Floyd-like manner, but more solid than any of the similar releases by artists such as The Brain, Dark Matter & Anubian Lights, with which this track very favourably compares, and, at ten minutes long, is a real gem. Track 3 is a more sprightly but busy track, with a varied set of soundscapes, again rhythmic, but more ambient influences, but certainly not in any way 'trance' or 'dance' related. Without going into further detail, this is really a rather excellent multi-layered, vari-soundscaped, superbly paced, Ambient synth album with 'real' drums adding to the rhythmic range and it's a good, varied, solid set of compositions featuring some superb synth & keyboards work with a hand on the tiller of melody, perfect for anyone into the aforementioned groups and also Dilate, Ynos & Surface 10.
SPACESHIP EYES:Truth In The Eyes Of A Spaceship CD
The brand new album and this time going firmly in the direction of drum 'n' bass anthems, with some fantastic tracks featuring a wide variety of rhythm structures in the d 'n' b territory, from dynamic stuttering to explosive, all the time overlaid with an amazing array of synth layers, fx and melodies, at times with the addition of other instrumental textures that subtly enhance the full flavours on offer. With a guest appearance from ex-Hawkwind synth musician Harvey Bainbridge on one track, this is an album at the top of its tree in the genre it inhabits.
SPACESHIP EYES: Of Cosmic Repercussions CD
The first album was more ambient while the second was more drum 'n' bass, but this new one is a wholly different and way better affair. Starting with an uptempo mix of ambient, space-rock synth and textural electronics, all produced with a total clarity that is positively eye-opening, complete with phased effects, rolling rhythms and more, this is a superb six minute opener. Following that comes a more drum-led slice of solid space-rock ambience with all manner of electronics, rumbling bass, celestial synths, pounding rhythms and soaring backdrops all diving headlong into an intergalactic chase of immensely pleasurable proportions. Track three is similar and even better, with more synths swooping away, guitars added to the melting pot and a generally super-solid slice of driving space music. Track four features Spice Barons and returns to the more trancey roots of the band with a corking slice of ambient trance utilising sequenced synths, string synths, exotic drums, samples, echoed guitars, celestial female voice samples and more on one immense sounding slice of uptempo ambience that is a joy to hear. Track five goes all-out to driving space-rock, albeit with an electronic backdrop, as rampaging Moroccan sounding drums and synths and effects pave the way for a soaring lead guitar to solo to magical effect as the track continues its glorious journey. Track six is a tad more bizarre - a sort of mix of drum 'n' bass squeezed through assorted effects pedals and stuff. Track seven is a song that takes space-rock, drum'n bass and ambient dub, melts it all down and comes up with a driving slice of almost Hawkwind-like proportions, more Bainbridge than Brock, more synths than guitars, more electro than rock, but a thunderous six minutes, all the same. With four further equally flowing, solid, varied and consistent tracks to follow, this is a mix of electronic and space-rock that really works a treat and is a much, much better album than ever I'd have credited. Recommended.
SPIRITS BURNING: New Worlds By Design CD
The brainchild of American musician and Spaceship Eyes main man, Don Falcone, this is a project whereby pieces of music or single phrases or just solo excerpts of all the tracks were started by Falcone and the tapes then sent all round the world to the musicians, asking for them to make s contribution to the track, from excerpts to the whole track, in many cases. The amazing result of all this is not only a stellar line-up of musicians that will make you jaw-dropped in amazement, but a set of seventeen tracks in seventy-six minutes of which every one is so cohesive, flows so well, and delivered to perfection, so that you'd swear that on each track, all the participants had been in the studio at the time of recording.
Stylistically, it covers a wide amount of mostly instrumental ground from mainly instrumental space-rock, with nods to prog-rock, Krautrock and contemporary to wild prog-fusion and chilled-out acid-rock - virtually everything to make up a truly classy album that will have a massively wide appeal, built around a predominant instrumentation of drums, electric bass, electric guitars and synths on each track but almost all tracks possessing a huge, solid sound and production that places them firmly in the more prog/ Euro-/ jamming side of rock and space-rock in the vein of classic jamming bands such as Ozrics, Tribe of Cro, yet here the whole thing is a lot more cohesive, less bombastic, less indulgent and more on-fire, full to the brim with original ideas, inspired playing and superb execution, editing, production and sound.
But you'll hear some truly outstanding guitar work in particular, with some great spacey synths and on-fire rhythm section work from the likes of Gong's Daevid Allen, Don Falcone, Paul Fox, K. Soren Bengtsson, Pressurehed's Len Del Rio, Farflung's Tommy Grenas, Sub Arachnoid Space's Mason Jones, Porcupine Tree's Steve Wilson and loads more, with Daevid Allen playing some fantastic electric guitar and glissando on quite a few of the longer tracks on the album, showing he can still play a mean guitar lead, while the penultimate track is written largely by and features Can's Malcolm Mooney. Overall, it is a loud, exciting, mainly space-rock style project that is so musch more than it seems in a review like this and you really should give it a chance whether you are into space-, prog- or psychedelic rock styles and want to hear something fres, different, melodic, rhythmic, exciting, powerful and invigorating - every track is superb. To single out any particular contribution or to dissect each track would take more space than ever I've got here, so just indulge yourself in one awesome CD - a winner and no mistake.
SPIRITS BURNING: Reflections In A Radio Shower CD
If the first one was a runaway success supergroup project, this one is, if anything, even better.......
To fill you in, the idea is that the mastermind musician behind the project, Don Falcone, plays musical phrases and ideas onto DAT, gives that to a musician who adds more and then passes that on to someone else and - lo! - the tracks are created. The list of participants could hardly be more impressive:
Daevid Allen (Gong), Karen Anderson (Psi Club), Robert Calvert (Hawkwind - sampled), Michael Clare (Daevid Allen's University Of Errors), Knut Gerwers (The Moor), Carl Howard (Bron To Go), Kenneth Magnusson (The Moor), Mushroom, Roger Neville-Neil (Farflung+Hawkwind lyric writer), ST 37, Stephen Palmer (Mooch, Blue Lily Commission, Spaceship Mooch), Doug Pearson (Primordial Underground, Dogbreath, Mushroom) Neil Pinnock (Mooch), Trevor Thoms (Nik Turner's Inner City Unit), Paul Williams (Quarkspace, National Steam), Pete Wyer (Mooch), Don Xaliman (Melodic Energy Commission) and more.
Musically, we're talking quality and range, breadth and class, dimension and expansion. With 16 tracks and more line-ups than you can shake a stick at, detailed reviewing is a pleasure but I don;t have the space here, so let me say that the album opens with a four minute piece that features a Calvert spoken intro, Hendrix sample, a dual guitar lead from Allen/Thoms, '72-era Gong-like bass, swirling synths from Palmer in an early Hawkwind-y style, plus bass, samples, and more to create a brooding piece of psychedelia-meets-Kraut/Space Rock with a '73 atmosphere and one steaming gem of an opener. The four minutes plus, of track two is a languid slice of space-ambience-meets-'72-era Gong with some gorgeous guitar work from Allen over the loping bassline from Clare around and behind which the synths, samples and percussion from Falcone, fill out the mix to create one sensational, slowly rhythmic ambient instrumental masterpiece. Track three features no less than ten players, including a reading from Calvert .
('Centigrade 232'), another Gong-style bass line, a single-line chorus and the whole thing feels like a mix of classic space-rock/psych ambience with classic early seventies Gong, as Falcone, Howard, Palmer, Jerry Jeter on lead guitars, Pinnock, Anderson & ST37 create a sparkling array of layers, melodies and textures. Track four is a three minute instrumental that revolves around keyboards, the treatment of said keyboards, guitars, bass and drums, coming over as a slightly dark but rhythmic piece that echoes the sadly unrecorded Laswell group Zu that transmutated into Material, and hints of Eno tracks around the "Another Green World/Apollo" periods. Track five features an almost King Crimson-like lineup with bass, keys, mellotron, Chapman stick, electric guitar and drums, while musically has hints of "Clear Light Symphony" as much as anything (if you know that classic album) with some splendid work from all the musicians including Magnusson, Clare, Thoms, Williams, Falcone & Teed Rockwell on the Stick. The three minute track six is a piece composed and largely played by Mushroom, remixed by Falcone, with added mellotron way up front from Magnusson, and short it may be, but total class it certainly remains, a sort of laid-back jazzy, proggy ambience. Track seven features Allen sounding for all the world like Robert Wyatt on the wordless vocals and then just like his old familiar self on the actual song, while his lead guitar cascades down like slow-motion rain showers, as Falcone, Pearson & Palmer provide the synths backdrop on the shade-under three minute slice of ambient/Gong-like magic. Track eight is an eleven minute job, with the lion's share of the work from Mushroom, Pearson & Falcone, guitar from Thoms and a quite epic composition that starts with solid percussive rhythms and phased almost Neu-like guitars, drops to a melting pot of samples, loops and keys all really spacey/atmospheric as the band begins the main body of the piece with solid layers of samples, hot guitar figures, as much textural as melodic, a laid-back series of echoed guitar/synth lines and a track that is now slowly progressing on some kind of vast intergalactic voyage, as assorted sounds, landscapes, layers and textures pass by, all so psychedelic but in a very spacey manner.
Gradually it picks up steam to turn into one giant cauldron of guitars, keys, samples, synths, drums, bass and trombone, the individual instruments almost being indistinguishable in the molten musical soup that is unfolding gloriously around your ears, altogether one stunning piece of musical creation. Track nine at a touch over six minutes includes no less than sixteen participants, sounding for all the world like some lost gem from an early Amon Duul album with drums, guitars, bass, percussion and flute creating that all-important early seventies Krautrock-esque atmosphere as guitars shoot off and drums/percussion provide the solid rhythmic backdrop, with a hint of very early Can in there too. The next six tracks last between one and a half and four and a half minutes each, with assorted line-ups, some absolutely cracking psychedelic-space-Krautrock music that mirrors the feel of what has been heard up to now and is every bit as riveting listening, the longest track being the one song featuring a hugely expansive backing from guitars, synths, keys and drums, the three lead guitarists being Thoms, Joel Crutcher & Mark Stone.
While the just under two minutes of track fifteen are thoroughly chilled out featuring Falcone, Palmer & Xaliman on synths plus Rockwell on Chapman Stick, all so wondrous and you wish there could have been a lot more of this one, as you do for much of the rest I have to say. Finally, the last track, at eleven minutes, features Allen, Anderson, Clare, Falcone, Rockwell, Wyer & Thom The World Poet, is an instrumental piece that is the album's most psychedelic gem with the guitars, synths, Stick, drums, bass creating a sort of ambient-psych-Crimso style melting pot of textures, swirling leads, expansive backdrops, textural subtleties, and again, a chilled-out ambience that is almost unique to what is essentially a rock band at work. Totally satisfying it has a spacious quality to it all, as ever totally demanding your full attention - and getting it with interest.
Overall, this is a seamless, class and 200% quality album that is a masterpiece of creation, will be satisfying listening for years to come, easily eclipses the first one (and THAT was a gem) and can quite easily be said to be genuinely an essential purchase for a wide variety of music fans ac ross an equally large stylistic range. It's consistent, enjoyable, brilliantly assembled and produced, and throughout, it sounds like each musician was present in the studio on each track concerned. It just doesn't come any better than this.
SPIRITS BURNING: Found In Nature CD
The third in the series, this time featuring players from Gong, University Of Errors, Spacehead, Melting Euphoria, Bionaut, Spaceship Eyes, Quiet Celebration, , King Black Acid, Goddess T, Cartoon, Mushroom. ICU, Quarkspace, Acid Mothers Temple & Netherworld. So, you have sixteen tracks across 66 minutes, each one different, each one with a different line-up, the glue that binds the project being the ever-present musician, co-composer, assembler and arranger, Don Falcone. This time round Gong's Daevid Allen plays some spectacular lead (and glissando) guitar work on seven of the album's tracks, while cohort in a previous line-up, Graham Clark, contributes his violin skills to 5 tracks, one with Allen.
Tracks range from the surging guitar-driven dynamics of 'Dolmen', past the soaring violin-led 'Variable Shades Of Friendship', the solid but calming acoustic ethno-fusion resonance that is 'Oak, Elm and Spruce', with guitar, synth and flugel to the fore, the dizzy heights that is 'Ingredients, Pink Lady Lemonade, Liftoff' with an initial drums-driven intro leading to high-flying wordless vocals, synths, djembe, bass and guitars combination that is just superb and the longest track on the album at nine minutes, through 'Chiaro', a short slice of space and abstract from three keys/synth players plus guitar, bass and drums, four minutes of 'Rakasha-Loka' that manages to be five completely different styles within one remarkably cohesive track, from calm to attack, the mix of ethnic fusion and Tim Blake style synths that is five minutes of 'Blue Wings', to growling calm, King Crimson-like attack and rumbling multi-layered strangeness, all mostly led by guitars, keyboards, synths, bass, drums, percussion and effects, but always cohesive, adventurous, atmospheric, layered and overflowing with interest. The most varied of the trio to date, and in many ways quite deep, it's the sort of thing that someone with a flair for cohesive musical statements and brilliant musicianship/arranging will really sink their teeth into and find hugely rewarding.
WEIRD BISCUIT TEATIME: DJDDAY CD
Super quartet featuring Gong' s Daevid Allen, Spirits Burning/Spaceship Eyes' Don Falcone, + Michael Clare & Trey Sabetelli. A combination of instrumentals and songs, the first track, 'DJ Herbal Extract' an instrumental that features some great guitar work, funky bass and swirling drums, coming across like a mix of University Of Errors & Talking Heads, with some excellent textural backdrops and effects to give it depth as well as bite. 'Fashion Victim' is Daevid Allen in menacing mode with percussive domination and almost growelled vocal, very eerie but strong too. The 5 minute 'Lavender' is a gorgeous slice of slowly flowing music with glissando guitar, sustained guitar chording, beautiful string synth and deep subtle bass rivers combining effortlessly to create a piece of complete tranquility. 'O Dear' is a socially aware Allen song with a suitably strong musical backing, where that sustained chording from the guitar flies overhead while the funky rhythm section lurches on and the keyboard textures drift and swirl in spacey fashion all around the typically Alien vocal - a superb track. 'Beelzebabble Slush' is four minutes of rolling rhythms, thunderous bass and Fripp-esque guitar, above which unintelligible babbled vocals surge forward, a mix of humour and darkness, the pace accelerating neatly as the track progresses. 'Technicolour Tongue' takes us back to a mix of Talking Heads, Ragnarok (obscure Swedish reference time) and Crimson, while the nine minute 'Cathode Cathedral' spends its first half as a richly textured, layered slice of space music, then develops into a strongly rhythmic mid-section albeit briefly, before returning to the space music layers and textures of before. Another excellent song and instrumental close the album, the result being a varied yet consistent album of some great new music throughout.
V/A: Where Stalks The Sandman- An Ambient Collection CD
Just one of the very best rhythm-free space-ambient albums you'll find on the planet with six tracks of deep, dark, atmospheric, layered electronic music that is so chilled and cosmic as to transport you into new dimensions right from the start. Contributors include a twenty-five minute epic from Don Falcone, a thirteen minute slice of dark blissful space ambience from Kim Cascone, plus five, nine and twelve minute tracks from Monocaine, Karen Anderson & Steven Wilson, all equally ethereal and on the dark side of spacey. With all but one track exclusive to this album, and the other one being from a rare bonus CD anyway, this is fantastic from start to finish - you cannot live without this album.
